Gina,
Did you look at the links I posted? I was reading one of them tonight and this may help you. genealogytoday.com/fam...part5.html
I found this part really interesting:Research in Lebanon and Syria is difficult, but it can be done. The Jafet Library at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, for example, is receptive to questions, and its staff will help if they can. If you know the Arabic names and the appropriate dates, you may be able to obtain birth and death certificates from district or central offices of the Bureau of the Census. Address your inquiry to the Census Office in the community (i.e., village, city, county) where your ancestor lived.
So, next, we need to find the church. Order the Catholic microfilm. I'll try looking for churches.

Among the Northern plains you will find the city of Aleppo (Halab), situated in a bowl in the landscape. Gertrude Bell, an English woman, likened it to a saucer with an upturned cup, being the Citadel. This is where Abraham (P) milked his cow.

The city itself is a central 'old city', a long maze of narrow streets around the magnificent Aleppo Citadel. As you go further away from the Citadel, buildings and roads become more modern until you reach the boundaries of New Aleppo.

Aleppo, Syria's city of the North, is situated only 1 hour away from the Turkish border. The city of Antioch in the province of Iskanderoun used to be Aleppo's gateway to the Mediterranean.

From Aleppo there are direct routes to the East of Syria (Al Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Al Hasakeh) and the Iraqi border at Bukamal. There are also direct routes to Turkey, Latakia, Damascus and Palmyra (both via Homs).

Aleppo is now Syria's second biggest city. It has had a major role in the development of Syria's trade especially in the early nineties. It remains a popular city for tourists who like to visit the Citadel and the Middle East's longest covered souk. It is also famous for its architecture and intricate stonework.
History of Aleppo
Aleppo, going back to the early 2nd millennium BC, competes with Damascus on being the oldest inhabited city in the world. It appeared in the Hittite archives in central Anatolia and in the archives of Mari on the Euphrates. Aleppo (Halab) was the capital of the Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad, in the middle centuries of that millennium. It was the focus of the Hittites in their overthrow of the Amorite Dynasty, in 1595 BC. In about 1000 BC, Northern Syria was taken over by the Sea Peoples; however Aleppo remained a small Neo-Hittite state. From 800 BC to 400 BC, the Assyrians followed by the Persians were in control of Syria.

In 333 BC, Aleppo was taken over by Alexander the Great, and was kept under the Greeks for 300 years in the form of the Seleucid Empire. During this time Aleppo was an important trading city, between the Euphrates and Antioch.

In 64 BC Pompey brought Syria under Roman domination. It remained under Roman control in the form of the Byzantine Empire until 637AD, when the Arabs took over.

In the 10th century Aleppo was taken over by the Hamdanids who made it virtually independent until 962 AD when it was retaken by the Byzantine Empire. In 1098, it was circled by soldiers from the First Crusade who could not conquer it, but paralyzed its commercial power. It was besieged again in 1124 by another Crusade, and then taken over by Zengi and his successor Nur al Din.

Saladin then took over and at his death the Ayyubid dynasty was perpetuated in Aleppo. At the Mameluke period, trade was diverted from Aleppo to the North in Antioch and to the South through Palmyra. But when the Mongol Empire broke up and some converted to Islam, trade resumed through Aleppo. The Ottomans later took over, but by that time Europe had redirected its trade through sea routes to India and China.

During World War I, Aleppo's trade rose with the arrival of Armenian refugees, who fled the Ottoman massacres. But after France had given Antioch to Turkey, Aleppo lost its Mediterranean outlet.

Eleven, I am with you. I gave her a copy of the FBI file and she still called me a lying so and so. So to heck with her..... I dont' need her. Unfortunately I dont' know who I need!!! But Cathy gave me a great place to start and I will start reading all this stuff on Monday. Thanks Cathy!!

I never imagined how strong the 'moorish/arabic' influence was in such places. Those photo's of Aleppo are incredible and really make me want to visit and see them for my self....

As for families not wanting to either admit to what had been going on OR not willing to help in uncovering family background for future generations - well I believe EVERY word....I've been there and done that too!

It's just by patience, and yet more patience that the stories are put together in the end.... Just don't give up, because while one will curse you, other - both present and future - will surely thank you!

As I grew up..I realized that my mothers family was very secretive...and for stupid stuff..not anything that mattered. They made a big deal over "telling their business" even to each other. I remember my mother, always telling us as kids..to learn how to say "I dont know" when people asked us anything. (Anything about what..is still a mystery to me.) I still dont know what it was I was supposed to shut up about.

Because of being raised like this..I dont think I would ever have done this family history if my mother was alive. I dont think she would have approved me digging around..especially since she always insisted her father never married after her mothers death..and I just discovered he very will might have.

Because of this guilt feeling, I still possess over this family digging..I still cant bring myself to send for my grandfathers second marriage certificate..even tho I am 99% sure that the marriage I found for who I think is him..is really him. Its like I am doing something that my mother wouldnt have wanted me to do.

I am hoping..at some point..I can get passed this guilty feeling and send for it.

While I totally understand how you feel (my parents were the same way while we were growing up and my husband is even worse now), you need to let it go and do whatever you feel is right. You may be surprised..oh..and it may not even be him.

LOL I know. The papers to send away for the proof have been sitting on my desk for a couple of months..and..they are the only papers sitting here.

Its almost like..if I dont send them..and dont know..I dont have to include it in my tree. For some reason..my mom didnt want us to know..because she HAD to have known..if her baby sister knew. And to think..I was gently arguing with my aunt..telling her, they probably told her he was married..since she was so young..but he was just living with the woman.

I was so sure that I was right..that I never bothered to look for the info. I found it by accident on that site with the bride/groom NY lookups. His last name was misspelled...and because I have a habit of entering the most logical misspellings..I found someone with his misspelled name with the marriage year that I had ballparked. Because my aunt told me the womans name..I went to the bride search and put in the date of the marriage and did a double take when her first name showed up.

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